


One shot Prompts

by AndiMackmeetsHamilton



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, Out of Character, Romantic Angst, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2020-02-21 15:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18705313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndiMackmeetsHamilton/pseuds/AndiMackmeetsHamilton
Summary: I am now taking one shot prompts, so send them in, on the comment section because I don't have a Tumblr account. Nothing inappropriate will be tolerated though. Any appropriate ideas you have, send them in! Also T.J. won't appear on the tags and I don't know why.





	1. One shot Prompts

**Author's Note:**

> I have got exams but all prompts should be completed by the end of the hiatus alongside my own original ideas, I'll write one or two a week along with one fic update a week or two and maybe an original oneshot so I can't do all of them at once, but I'll prioritise these requests.

Hey so I'm taking prompts for one shots now, nothing over a Teen rating maximum, which means nothing sexual or violent. I will take on most ships, such as: Jibby, Walibby, Jandi, Wandi, Bandi, Ambi, Muffy, Juffy, Wuffy, Wonah, Bexie, Tyrus, Landi, Jyrus, Ambiris etcetera but no ships that involve one adult and one child because that's disgusting and your comment will be reported, and the same goes for sexual prompts because the characters are children, and refuse to age them up because that's weird.

I also won't write ships involving the cast because they are real people and should not be shipped! I also won't write with TJ or Cyrus with females when they are both canonically gay. I will write the occasional Jyrus but I ship Tyrus mainly, however the shipping wars are childish and dumb. 

Bearing that in mind, feel free to send me any prompts whatsoever because I'd love to hear your input and ideas! I'll even write obscure crack ships, I don't mind. Comment below to send prompts! Have a good day (:


	2. Coming Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyrus and TJ have been secretly dating for the past two months now, and are ready to come out to TJ's parents. How will it go down? Will they take it well? Or will the whole plan go down in flames?
> 
> "You're a brillant boy, Cyrus Goodman, and it's lovely that TJ has you as his best friend." 
> 
> TJ and Cyrus exchanged an uncomfortable look.
> 
> "Actually, Mom, we have something to tell you. We're more than friends." 
> 
> "What?" 
> 
> "Mom, Dad, Cyrus isn't just my best friend. He's my boyfriend. I'm gay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so this is for tyrus (That's their username) but it won't let me tag it on here, this was their prompt idea so credits to them for that! Hope you enjoy this! Sorry it is late and not well-edited!

"Are you ready to tell them?" 

TJ sighed, grabbing Cyrus' hand. 

"I honestly don't know if I can go through with this." 

Cyrus frowned. 

"If you don't want to tell them, then I totally get it, whenever you're ready-" 

"No, Cyrus." TJ interrupted. "You don't understand. Of course I want to tell them, it's just-" 

He broke off mid-sentence, running his free hand through his dark blond hair, as was his custom when he was nervous or worked up.

"It's just, I'm too scared to. What if I wimp out, or something?" 

Cyrus squeezed TJ's hand reassuringly with a small smile.

"You have me by your side. Always. Remember that." 

TJ chuckled and nodded. Cyrus had always been there for him, like when he was struggling with his dyscalculia or when they collectively came out to Buffy about their relationship. They'd been dating in secret for the past two months and she honestly wasn't surprised about their relationship. No one else knew.

But tonight, they were going to come out to TJ's parents. TJ had invited him around to dinner under the pretence of their relationship being purely platonic. However, tonight they were going to admit that they were, in fact, dating, much to TJ's distress. 

TJ's hands were gripping the chain of the swing he was sat on fiercely now, twisting around and around, pale and sweaty. How the tables had turned. Cyrus was usually the one prone to anxiety, but then again, he wasn't the one about to come out to his parents. 

TJ's thoughts were all competing for attention, a chaotic mess of distressing words and images, his head swarming as he envisioned a million different scenarios where his parents were yelling, screaming at him frantically. Disowning him. Just the possibility of that sent a shiver down his spine. Where would be stay? With Cyrus? He'd be burdening him. Not to mention, what if they blew up at him in front of Cyrus? Cyrus was the last person who deserved to witness that.

What if his parents hated him? He'd never forgive himself. TJ hoped desperately that he wasn't letting them down. His parents were Christians, and could be occasionally religious, but TJ didn't know their stance on gay people and he had never dared to ask them.

TJ's eyes misted up. Cyrus noticed immediately and walked over to him, cupping TJ's face in his hands and wiping away his tears. 

"Hey," Cyrus whispered gently. "You'll be alright. I promise." 

TJ nodded, still unconvinced. 

"I'd best go and get ready at home." 

"I'll see you later, Cyrus." 

Cyrus smiled and kissed TJ's cheek, before leaving the park, TJ watching behind him with a warm smile, despite himself. 

With Cyrus by his side, he could do anything-even come out to his parents. 

Perhaps tonight wouldn't be so bad, after all.

Cyrus, meanwhile, was internally freaking out. He hadn't mentioned it to TJ, but he'd obviously never done this before and would have found meeting any significant other's parents, let alone his boyfriend. Who was relying on him. Who needed him to impress his parents. Who made him feel like nobody else did. 

He couldn't let TJ down, and that was honestly a lot of pressure. He hadn't told TJ this to prevent him from dealing with feelings of guilt, something TJ was prone to.

He was certain they'd be nice people, though. 

What if they aren't? A voice in his head taunted. What if they're homophobic? 

Cyrus tried to brush it off, but he was trembling slightly in fear. What if TJ's parents kicked him out or we're openly homophobic towards him? TJ was the last person who deserved that.

Cyrus took a deep breath to steel himself and alleviate his nerves as he adjusted his clothing. 

He was about to spray himself in cologne when his Mom yelled from downstairs for him to be ready. When he arrived downstairs sheepishly, his Mother was taplkng her feet impatiently and pointing at her watch as Cyrus tied his shoes. She tutted and Cyrus made a point of hurrying out of the door as fast as he could.

"So," his Mother asked. "This TJ. Is he a nice boy?" 

Cyrus nodded, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, in hindsight. 

"Oh, yeah. He's smart, understanding, caring, sweet, athletic and really funny." 

His Mother raised her eyebrows. 

"Do you have a crush on him?" 

Cyrus had come out to her a few weeks prior, but somehow hadn't got the guts to admit he had a boyfriend. The quesruon took him by surprise all the same. Then again, he did talk about TJ a lot...

"I-um-of course not." Cyrus stuttered, unconvincingly. He'd always been an awful liar, after all. 

"Sure." 

"Mom!" Cyrus groaned, his face red. Mrs Goodman chuckled lightly as she pulled up at the Kippen residence.

"You behave yourself, now." She chided, despite Cyrus' manners and behaviour consistently being impeccable. 

"I will." Cyrus promised, feeling guilty about not telling her he was dating TJ. 

With that, he waved her a quick goodbye, breathed in deeply, stepped forward, and knocked on the door. 

"You must be Cyrus! Welcome to our house!" A tall lady with brunette hair (who looked only in her mid to late thirties, which Cyrus later find out she was at only thirty-seven) announced at the door. "Come on in! Isn't the weather lovely today? Why don't you hang your coat up on the rack and remove your shoes?" 

Cyrus responded politely, that yes the weather was good, and hopefully it kept up this weekend despite the forecasted rain, and thank you very much. She ushered him into their living room enthusiastically, and Cyrus took a good look around.

The whole living room was quite modern and sleek, with a black and white theme mixed with gold to give it sophistication. A large television screen framed an opposite wall, adding to the look further, but there was something to be said about the subtle nostslgis laced across the room, from the old fashioned clocks and bookshelves to the friendly photographs scattered across the room.

"Is that TJ?" Cyrus questioned Mrs Kippen incredulously, pointing at the large photograph of the family framed above the spacious television. 

Mrs Kippen nodded with a light laugh, her blue eyes sparkling. Cyrus decided that TJ took after his father in terms of looks. 

"Crazy how different he looks now, isn't it?" 

She jumped up suddenly. 

"Where are my manners? May I offer you a drink?" 

"I'm good, thanks." Cyrus insisted. After a few more offers, though, he caved in and asked for a water, to settle his stomach, which felt knotted and was filled with more elephants than butterflies. He could only pray that dinner went well.

"TJ, are you coming out?" 

Hopefully, if they were accepting enough, TJ thought to himself. 

"Just a minute, Dad!" 

"Cyrus is here!" Mr Kippen shouted from behind us door. 

TJ gasped. 

"You should have told me sooner! How long has he been here for?" 

"A few minutes!" His Dad called, his voice becoming gradually more distant now. "Wouldn't want to keep him waiting, now, would you, son?" 

"I'm coming!" TJ responded, rushing out of the bathroom hurriedly in his panic. His mind was a over the place. He couldn't believe his boyfriend, Cyrus Goodman, was here, at his house. It felt special but terrifying at he same time. Cyrus could be judgemental-what if he was now? What if he decided TJ was a loser and broke up with him? 

Agonising innecessantly over the hypothetical, TJ made his way downstairs apprehensively in the hopes that everything would turn out alright.

Meawnhile, in the living room, Mrs Kippen was proudly showing off photographs of TJ when he was younger; she had a whole album out which was just pictures of TJ, which Cyrus absolutely loved.

"He was so adorable!" Cyrus commented with a chuckle. Mrs Kippen agreed with him. Cyrus thought secretly that TJ was still adorable now. He took a sip of his water and continued to look at the photo album with curiosity.

"And that's him, all dressed up for Church." Mrs Kippen pointed out, her gaze on a picture of a younger TJ in a dark blue suit and red tie, the sun beating down on his emerald eyes and causing them to gleam magnificently.

Cyrus nodded and gulped, this fact playing into one of his fears.

"You're religious?" 

Mrs Kippen considered this question thoughtfully . 

"Not excessively so, exactly. We attend Church every Sunday, but that's mainly to keep Jackson's mother off our backs. In fact, Jackson should be down in a minute. He's only recently left work, you see. He works at an office and often does overtime." Mrs Kippen sighed wistfully. "He's hardly ever home." 

She snapped out of it suddenly, realising she'd gone off track. 

"Anyway. We are fairly religious, and there probably is some God out there. Not that everyone believes me, for example-" 

Mrs Kippen cut herself off, her head moving towards the direction of the door. 

"TJ!" 

"Mom." TJ groaned. "What are you doing, showing Cyrus my baby pictures?" His face was red. "They're awful." 

"I think they're actually adorable." Cyrus interjected with a wink (which made TJ turn a funny tomato colour and made his stomach do a somersault), and another sip of his water. 

He stood up, moved across the room and hugged TJ. 

"You look brilliant, Cyrus." TJ whispered into Cyrus' war and Cyrus smiled lightly.

"So do you, handsome." Cyrus whispered back, making TJ blush, before they broke off their hug in order to enure Mrs Kippen didn't find it too suspicious just yet. TJ was confused as to how Cyrus had become so smooth, but he loved it. TJ turned to his Mother to distract himself.

"How long will dinner take, Mom? Did Dad say?" 

Mrs Kippen moved over to where TJ was stood, kissing him on the cheek, much to TJ's embarrassment.

"He's making his signature spaghetti, apparently, which you know takes about thirty minutes or so, once he's come downstairs, obviously."

At that particular moment, Mr Kippen arrived downstairs and shook Cyrus' hand firmly. 

"Pleasure to meet you. Cyrus, isn't it? TJ talks about you often. Welcome to our humble abode." 

He was a tall man, Cyrus noted, with a striking resemblance to TJ, with his blond hair and stunning green eyes, just like TJ. He smiled warmly and put an arm around his wife.

"You guys have fun, now. It's good to see TJ with a nice friend for once, unlike that other lad, the blond one." 

"Reed?" TJ and his Mother both offered simultaneously.

Mr Kippen nodded.

"That's the one. Him. He was completely reckless, rude and disrespectful to us." 

TJ looked down sheepishly, reminiscing shamefully the time Reed came round and miraculously managed to smash a neighbour's window with a football, fly into a rage about losing on GTA V (which TJ wasn't even supposed to have and was promptly banned from later), critiqued his parents' cooking and swore at the dinner table. It had to be a world record, or something. Never again.

"I know. Reed was a bad influence, but he's gone now. So it's fine." 

"Do what you like, boys, but don't ruin anything." Mrs Kippen insisted sternly. TJ and Cyrus both nodded and TJ turned his full attention to Cyrus. 

"How about I show you my room and then we can go outside to shoot some hoops or watch part of a film?" 

"Sounds good to me." 

"Honestly, always outside, just like his Mother." Mr Kippen commented, shaking his head. 

"Good of you to have a friend here, though, darling." Mrs Kippen grinned, showing off her dazzling white teeth in the process. 

TJ and Cyrus exchanged a glance, with Cyrus giving TJ an almost imperceptible nod. TJ displayed an expression that told Cyrus he was ready to come out to his parents. 

"Actually, Mom, Dad, the thing is-" 

At that particular moment, Mr Kippen's phone went off. 

"It's work." He observed. "A very important call. Sorry, I have to take it." 

Mrs Kippen sighed as Jackson rushed out of the room. 

"He always does that." 

"I'm sorry about that, Mrs Kippen." 

"Please, call me Tracy." Mrs Kippen insisted with a wave of her hand. "I'll get the ingredients ready. You two do whatever, just enjoy yourselves." 

That being said, Tracy moved towards the kitchen and TJ lead Cyrus upstairs enthusiastically, grabbing his hand when they were out of the sight of his parents.

"Are you going to tell them at some point?" Cyrus asked, his voice low. TJ nodded. 

"Of course." He squeezed Cyrus' hand. "We just need to find the right time, that's all." 

Cyrus smiled, visibly softened by TJ's gesture, before turning his attention to TJ's room.

Cyrus hadn't known what to expect, exactly, but he was still surprised all the same.

Well, maybe not necessarily taken aback by the fling sporadically across the floor, or the desk filled with the odd piece of work. TJ had always been messy in his nature, after all. TJ noticed this with embarrassment. 

"I, uh, forgot to tidy some things away in my panic. I'm sorry." 

Cyrus shook his head.

"It's fine, don't worry, babe." Cyrus responded, kissing TJ on the cheek. He surveyed the rest of the room and observed that some of it was expected of TJ, but some of the contents of the room were uncharacteristic of him, in his opinion at least. 

Above TJ's rumpled bed, were posters of his favourite basketball, football and baseball players, with several others spanning across the room, filling up TJ's blue wallpaper. Opposite his bed, was a spacious cabinet which contained trophies for a multitude of sporting and athletic events, including basketball, rugby (to Cyrus' surprise), football, baseball, motocrossing and multiple athletic tournaments. 

"Wow." Cyrus stepped towards the cabinet in awe. "You're so talented, TJ." 

TJ raised his eyebrows.

"Not that I don't already think that!" Cyrus added hastily. 

TJ laughed and punched Cyrus' arm lightly and playfully.

Cyrus' gaze fell on TJ's x-box, located near his DVD player. 

"How many times have you played that?" 

TJ shrugged nonchalantly. 

"I used to play it all the time with Reed and Lester. Sometimes I play it using video call with Marty and Jonah." 

"Do you get upset when you lose?" Cyrus grinned, teasing TJ. It was well known that he was a sore loser, after all. Once, they'd been playing Monopoly with Buffy and Andi. Needless to say, it had ended badly when Buffy had won.

TJ shook his head with a roll of his eyes. 

"Touché." 

TJ tickled Cyrus' neck, fully aware of how ticklish the boy was. Cyrus squealed and giggled. 

"TJ, stop it! You know I'm ticklish!" 

TJ smirked in smug satisfaction.

"That's what you get for calling me a sore loser."

Cyrus rolled his eyes and looked towards TJ's DVD player. 

"Do you ever watch any Disney films on it?" 

TJ was a softie, really, and it turned out he was a massive Disney fan.

TJ scratched the back of his neck self consciously. 

"Maybe." TJ muttered. 

Cyrus couldn't help but giggle-his boyfriend was adorable. Upon hearing this, TJ felt sorely tempted to kiss Cyrus, but they both wanted it to be in the right place and at the right time, and right now maybe wasn't, despite the way Cyrus was looking at him. He bit his lip as the moment passed and let Cyrus explore his room further. 

"You have a beanie bag? So cool!" 

Cyrus let himself sink down in it. 

"By the way, Moana is definitely the superior Disney movie." Cyrus commented, his eyes shut. "Lin-Manuel Miranda is an absolute lyrical genius." 

"You're just saying that because you love Hamilton." 

Cyrus' eyes snapped open.

"Hey! No I'm not! I love Moana! And besides, you love Hamilton too!" 

"No, I don't." 

"You literally have a celebrity crush on Daveed Diggs."

It was true. 

"Pfft. Whatever. Thomas Jefferson was the best character ever, and the smoothest." 

"Eliza is superior." 

TJ made a buzzer sound. 

"Wrong." 

"She was the bravest, the kindest and the strongest character who puts up with everything amazingly. I don't think any character beats her, to be honest, TJ." 

"Fine. Whatever." TJ responded, admitting defeat. "But Aladdin is the best." 

"I mean, it's no Moana, but it is a classic. They kind of botched up the live action version, though."

"Hey! I'm willing to give it a chance." 

"You have a bias because you love the Fresh Prince of Bel Air." Cyrus pointed out. 

TJ laughed out loud. It was true. He'd watched all six seasons at least five times now with his Mom; they both loved it. He was obsessed with it, and new the rap by heart. Cyrus asked him to recite it, so he gladly did, with as much charisma as possible. Cyrus clapped and cheered for TJ when he had finished and sat down on TJ's swivel chair, eyeing up his desk.

"I know, it's a mess." TJ admitted, his eyes skimming the six page essays, the grade C maths homeworks, his half-finished French and Spanish booklets.

"I can help you organise them, one day." Cyrus offered. 

TJ grinned, grateful for his boyfriend. 

"That would be great." 

TJ spun Cyrus lightly to 90 degrees on the swivel chairs. Gradually, Cyrus was becoming better and better on rides and things that had previously made him dizzy or terrified. When he got off, he spotted a diary under TJ's pillow. 

"Do you ever write in that?" 

TJ nodded, slightly embarrassed.

"Does it help?" 

TJ shrugged.

"Helps me." 

"Huh." Cyrus replied with a nod of understanding. "I hope you don't write bad things about me in there." Cyrus joked. 

"Only the best things." 

TJ winked at Cyrus and Cyrus diverted his attention, to the posters pinned up on the wall, letting TJ explain briefly who they were and what position they played. 

As he looked around the room, he noted that there was a collection of CDs and a radio, which didn't surprise him, so he just asked TJ about who he listened to and rifled through the CDs after asking for TJ's permission to. That's when his eyes caught a bunch of vinyl music. 

"You like vinyl?"

"Of course." TJ commented, as they discussed who he liked listening to. Cyrus found it fascinating that his boyfriend had all these layers he never knew about. He suddenly remembered Buffy's encounter with TJ at the Red Rooster and explained this to TJ. 

"Wait, so Andi's Dad works there?" 

"Yep." 

Cyrus continued to look around the room, which was practically a treasure trove. TJ had two bookshelves, and TJ explained that he used to love Harry Potter when he was younger and eagerly awaited his letter from Hogwarts, despite Hogwarts being in Scotland, not the USA. He also loved Percy Jackson, as did TJ, with Cyrus believing Annabeth was a better character than Percy, unlike TJ, who believed the antithesis and loved Percy. 

Cyrus admitted defeat in the argument and his vision fell on two instruments next to TJ's wardrobe. How had he not noticed them before?

"You have a drum kit and a guitar and never told me? Who are you and what have you done with TJ?" 

TJ laughed, holding his hands up in mock defense. 

"I give in, I give in, okay? I used to be in a band in fourth and fifth grade." 

"What?" 

Cyrus was in disbelief. Why would TJ be in a band and why would he keep it from him? 

"Yeah. I was going to hide them in the spare room, call them my Dad's if you asked when passing the room. I didn't have time. I might have miscalculated it slightly." 

"Oh. What was it called?" 

"Sorry?" 

"The band. What was it called?" 

TJ laughed nervously. 

"Its really dumb." 

"Go on, just tell me." Cyrus encouraged. 

"No." TJ insisted, stubbornly, as he sat on the edge if his bed, watching Cyrus kneel down near his instruments. 

Cyrus gave TJ his best puppy eyes, which caused TJ relent immediately.

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm telling somebody this...The Golden Trio." 

Cyrus attempted to contain a laugh and failed. TJ glared at him. 

"Like in Harry Potter?" 

"Yeah." 

"Who were you?" 

"I played the drums or the guitar." 

"I hadn't gathered that." Cyrus quipped sarcastically.

"Fine. I was Ron Weasley."

"Really?" 

"Yeah, because I have freckles and everyone thought I was some dumb jock." 

Cyrus frowned.

"He was never dumb and neither are you." Cyrus whispered, stroking his thumb across TJ's dimples.

TJ felt weak in his knees. He felt touched by what Cyrus had told him. Cyrus asked him about what grade he'd played, what songs they'd done, etcetera, and asked TJ if he could look in his wardrobe. 

Inside was no surprise; a multitude of hoodies, sports shirts, sneakers and jeans, all very casual and comfortable, but also bright. Cyrus tried some of TJ's hoodies and TJ giggled to see Cyrus in a hoodie which wad a size or two too big, almost down to his knees, and hihhed him, his chin resting on the top of Cyrus' head lazily.

"What do you want to do, now, then?" TJ asked a few minutes later, when everything in his wardrobe was back to normal. 

Cyrus snuck a quick glance at the alarm clock resting on TJ's bedside drawers. 

"We only have about five minutes until tea. Maybe we should start a movie and continue it later?" 

"Or we could play basketball." TJ proposed. "It'd be pointless starting a movie now." 

Admittedly, TJ made a good point.

Cyrus pouted. 

"Teej...you know I can't play basketball. And I love Disney films. So do you." 

"How about we compromise?" 

"How?" Cyrus challenged him. 

"We play basketball now, and go to the cinema next weekend on a date, to see the new Aladdin." 

Cyrus considered this. 

"But what if tonight goes wrong and your parents ban you from seeing me? Not that I want to worry you, but-" 

"I wouldn't let that stop me." 

"You wouldn't?" Cyrus asked, taken aback. 

"Of course not. I really care about you, Underdog, and I want the whole world to know it." 

"Oh, TJ..." Cyrus whispered, tearing up. 

He ran over to TJ and hugged him tightly. 

"I care about you, too. A lot." 

TJ smiled softly as they broke off the hug. 

"How about some basketball?" 

"You're on."

They headed downstairs quickly, only to be greeted by Mrs Kippen. 

"Hey, guys. What are you up to?" Tracy asked casually. TJ explained they were going outside to play basketball for a few minutes and Tracy's eyes lit up.

"I used to play basketball, you know, back in the day."

"Yes, we know, Mom. You're constantly telling us that." TJ pointed out sardonically. "Mainly me." 

"Because I'm so proud you continued my basketball legacy!" 

"It runs in the family, huh?" Cyrus observed with a smile. 

TJ nodded and they headed outside. Mrs Kippen offered to come outside with them, 'to show the kids how it's done.'

TJ had a firm grip on the ball, but it was soon snatched out of his hands rapidly by his Mother, who could aim even more accurately than him.

"Come on, Mom, that wasn't even fair!" TJ complained petulantly. 

Mrs Kippen simply smirked and crossed her arms, a mannerism similar to TJ's. She threw Cyrus the ball and TJ went to grab it, but Cyrus was defensive. Cyrus tried to shoot the ball, failing miserably in the process. 

"Underdog, why don't I help you get the basketball in the hoop?" 

"Really? You'd do that?"

TJ gave Cyrus a warm smile which lit up his face. 

"Of course I would, Cyrus." 

He straightened Cyrus' arm. 

"Just stand like that, with your feet apart...that's it. Good. You got it! Now, go for it!" 

Cyrus threw the basketball in, but it just hit the rim. 

"That's good, keep going. Try again." TJ encouraged, positioning Cyrus' arms. 

It almost made it in-but not quite.

"I'm not great at this, am I?" 

"No, you've got this. I have faith in you." 

"As do I." Mrs Kippen chipped in chirpily. 

"Besides," TJ added, "third time lucky."

Cyrus thanked them for their encouragement, stepping forward, TJ guiding him the whole time, which delighted him to no end.

Cyrus aimed again-and this time, it went in.

TJ cheered, picking Cyrus up and twirling him around.

"I'm so proud of you, Cyrus!" 

He set down a laughing Cyrus, ruffling his hair, before realising his Mother was there and looking between them slightly suspiciously, but she was grinning widely all the same. She high fived Cyrus, congratulating him. Cyrus thanked her and TJ proposed a 2 vs 1. 

"Try it, Taylor Jackson Kippen!"

Tracy challenged. 

TJ felt mortified.

"Mom! I told you not to tell anyone!" 

"Why not?" 

"It's embarassing." 

TJ turned to Cyrus, whose caring gaze was intense and a little hypnotic. 

"Well I, for one, think it is a great name and just part of who you are." 

TJ shook his head stubbornly and the game began, Cyrus throwing the ball to TJ, but his Mother stealing it in the process. Cyrus successfully blocked her, earning a fist bump from TJ and a shared smile. 

Mrs Kippen tried to get it in again, but her aim was slightly off and Cyrus chased it. He passed it to TJ rapidly, who positioned himself to shoot the ball in the hoop. Mrs Kippen almost blocked him-but to no avail. The ball sailed into the basket with ease and TJ and Cyrus hugged each other whilst jumping up and down frenziedly, Mrs Kippen rolling her eyes and shaking her head in the meantime. 

"This reminds me of this one time in '96..." 

For a full minute, she regaled them with a tale from the past about the time she beat Sandra Atkinson at the state championship. She'd just finished her story when Mr Kippen called then in, a minute too late, they both thought. 

They left their game, walking so close both their shoulders and hands were touching as they made their way into the house. 

After they set the table, TJ and Cyrus sat down next to each other with their hands brushing while Mr Kippen began asking Cyrus about his life-such as his hobbies, interests and if he was interested in my sports. TJ noted that their interactions were going smoothly until the last question. 

Cyrus laughed. 

"I'm fairly abysmal at sports, actually."

Both of TJ's parents seemed surprised by this, considering how athletic TJ was. 

"So," Mrs Kippen asked, twirling her spaghetti around her fork, "how did you two meet?"

Cyrus turned pink and explained about their first interaction at the swings, and how he saw more in TJ, with TJ subtly glancing at Cyrus with heart eyes the whole time. 

"I don't know what I'd do without Cyrus." TJ added with a beam, and his parents agreed.

"Before TJ met you, he was quite lonely and insecure, really."

"And a bully." TJ begrudgingly admitted, despite Cyrus already being aware of this. Cyrus squeezed his hand subtly under the table, which somehow escaped the attention of both Mr and Mrs Kippen.

"But you became a better person, which I majorly respect you for." 

"You do?" 

"Of course I do." 

TJ gave Cyrus his most affectionate heart eyes when his Dad was at the sink and his Mom was at the fridge, stroking Cyrus' hand with his thumb. Cyrus felt his heartbeat jolt. The way TJ was looking at him...

"You're really making me feel like I'm your favourite person, Cyrus Heart Eyes Goodman." TJ whispered in Cyrus' ear. 

"Have you met yourself?" Cyrus muttered loud enough so that only TJ could hear. "You really look like you wan a kiss right now." 

TJ swallowed. Maybe he did, but his parents were there. He just shrugged as his parents sat back down, disentangling his hands and moving away subtly from Cyrus. 

"So, Cyrus." Mrs Kippen asked as Cyrus finished off his spaghetti. "Do you have a girlfriend right now?" 

Cyrus nearly choked on his spaghetti.

It took a few pats on the back and half a glass of water for him to recover. 

"Sorry, my food must have gone down the wrong way. And, uh, I don't actually have a girlfriend." 

"Oh? Why not?" 

"I guess I'm occupied with other things..." Cyrus explained with a quick glance at TJ. 

Such as my boyfriend, Cyrus thought.

TJ couldn't help but muse over the irony, that he had brought his boyfriend around to dinner to meet his parents and they'd asked him if he had a girlfriend. 

"TJ doesn't have a girlfriend, either." Mr Kippen told Cyrus, as though attempting to comfort him.

TJ glared at his Dad, rolling his eyes and biting his lip. He stared at his trainers like they were the most interesting thing to exist in the world and sipped his water casually. 

"Then again, TJ's never really been interested in girls." Mrs Kippen pointed out. 

TJ nearly spat his water out. 

Cyrus grabbed his hand under the table to show his support. 

"About that, actually..." 

However, TJ was interrupted abruptly by the door bell. Mrs Kippen squealed. 

"My delivery!" 

Mr Kippen shook his head and followed her to the door. 

"Is she always this..." Cyrus struggled to articulate a word or term matching Mrs Kippen's behaviour.

"Full on? Yes." TJ laughed. "I think it's her way for compensating for my dad working a lot, though me and Dad do have a mutual love for Disney movies and surfing." 

Cyrus raised an eyebrow. 

"Surfing?" 

"Yeah, it's so cool! Especially when you catch a good wave!" 

Cyrus smiled at TJ's abundant enthusiasm. 

"You'll have to teach me sometime." 

"I will." TJ promise.

TJ kissed Cyrus on the forehead and Cyrus ruffled his hair playfully. 

"Hey! Don't mess with the 'do!" TJ complained in mock anger and both boys laughed loudly, just as Mr and Mrs Kippen walked into the room, talking about their new vacuum cleaner for a few minutes. 

"What were you boys laughing at?" Mr Kippen laughed, patting TJ on the back caringly. 

"Nothing." TJ and Cyrus both replied at the same time.

"Kids." Mr Kippen muttered despairingly. 

Mrs Kippen beamed at them, and Cyrus thanked them for the stay and wonderful food. 

"You're very welcome, Cyrus." Mr Kippen informed him.

Mrs Kippen put an arm around Mr Kippen and spoke brightly, looking straight at Cyrus.

"You're a brillant boy, Cyrus Goodman, and it's lovely that TJ has you as his best friend." 

TJ and Cyrus exchanged an uncomfortable look, ready to reveal all.

"Actually, Mom, we have something to tell you. We're more than friends." 

"What?" 

Mrs Kippen looked visibly confused, as did Mr Kippen.

TJ took a deep breath, Cyrus squeezing his hand. 

"Go on." Cyrus muttered, encouragingly. "You got it. Third time lucky."

"Mom, Dad, Cyrus isn't just my best friend. He's my boyfriend. I'm gay." 

TJ squeezed his eyes shut, feeling tears form behind his eyelids. What if they hated him? His parents were lovely people, but quite religious, and even taking that out of the equation, they were, as expected, fairly heteronormative. He felt Cyrus hand in his, his courage gradually returning to him.

TJ heard the scraping of chairs and snapped his watery eyes open reluctantly, scared of their reaction to his sexuality.

"Stand up." TJ's Dad instructed. TJ stood up, letting go of Cyrus' hand and flinching. Much to his surprise, however, they enveloped TJ in a hug. 

"We're so proud of you, son, no matter what. You're amazing and this does nothing to change that." Mr Kippen told TJ. 

"We will always love you. You've always been weird, but you're no different." Mrs Kippen told her son, stroking his hair, as TJ was wrapped upon in their arms, emotional.

Cyrus smiled, overcome with emotion. He was so incredibly proud of his boyfriend; TJ had gone from being manipulated into doing things he didn't want to by subtle homophobia to dating Cyrus and being out to his parents. He sincerely hoped his Jewish parents would react in a similiar way when he eventually worked up the courage to come out to them, but for now this was a safe space.

This felt like an oddly intimate and private moment and he didn't want to intrude, so he didn't expect to be invited into the group hug. 

"Besides, you have the world's best boyfriend." Mrs Kippen added as they hugged.

TJ moved his gaze to Cyrus, who had always been there for him and who he loved more than he could possibly articulate to anybody. 

"I couldn't have done this without him, so you're right. He really is." 

They stepped out of the hug and TJ and Cyrus hugged, hard. 

"Well done. This is so difficult for you, yet you still took that step. You're so brave, TJ. Braver than you know." 

TJ grabbed Cyrus' hands. 

"I couldn't have even tried without you, guiding me every step of the way." 

They smiled and sat back down at the dinner table. 

"We could even go to pride with you at some point." Mr Kippen suggested, and Mrs Kippen nodded enthusiastically in agreement. 

"That...sounds great." TJ told them with a small smile.

Mr Kippen pecked Mrs Kippen on the lips.

"Now, who wants dessert?" 

Fourty-five minutes later, Cyrus and TJ were stood on the porch outside TJ's house, the warm breeze rufllkmg their hair. After dessert, they'd played a few rounds of Mario Kart, Cyrus playing as Peach, TJ playing as, Mario, Jackson as Bowser and Tracy as Luigi. It was all fun and games until Jackson won the first attempt, Tracy won the second, and Cyrus won the third, as TJ was notoriously a sore loser and had nearly thrown his Wii remote down in frustration. He'd calmed down by now, though. 

"I'm so proud of you, TJ." Cyrus whispered. "That took a lot of courage, and you still respected my wishes along with your own. You're pretty awesome, you know that? The world's best boyfriend." 

TJ shook his head. 

"That title easily goes to you and your guidance of me. Besides, you could have decided that was the wrong time...yet you didn't. You always have my back. I need you so much, Cyrus." 

"You mean the world to me, TJ Kippen." Cyrus whispered, moving a stray hair from TJ's face gently. 

TJ caught his breathe and cupped Cyrus' head in his hands.

"You mean the world to me, too, Cyrus Goodman."

That being said, Cyrus leaned in and kissed TJ on the lips. TJ felt warmth spread through him. Cyrus' lips were so soft, and he kissed so well. He felt a surge of love for Cyrus and wished they could do this forever.

Cyrus felt a surge of electricity pulse through his veins. He had never felt so alive in his whole life. This feeling was incredible, and he never wanted this kiss to stop. 

Cyrus' hands were in TJ's already messed up hair, and TJ's hands were cupping on Cyrus' face. 

Neither of the two boys couldn't believe their luck as they stood there, on a warm spring night, kissing each other lovingly. 

When they broke away, Cyrus rested his forehead on TJ's.

"That was exilihirating." 

"I know." TJ breathed. 

"I have to go." Cyrus explained reluctantly. 

TJ nodded. 

"I'll text you, Cyrus." 

"Sounds good to me." Cyrus laughed as he walked away, his fingers on his lips as he was in disbelief that he'd just been kissed by his amazing boyfriend.

"Oh, and Cyrus?" 

Cyrus turned around.

"Yes, TJ?" 

"I love you, Underdog." 

"I love you too, you dork." 

"Always?" TJ shouted after Cyrus. 

"Always!" Cyrus yelled back, sincerely. 

And he meant it, too. 

The best thing was, TJ thought as he watched Cyrus leave, it had only just begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave feedback if you enjoyed this (:


	3. Friend Like Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marty wants to ask Buffy out but doesn't quite know how and recruits the help of some of his trusty friends to do so. 
> 
> "Pretend to create a secret society bordering on ritualistic cult and then reveal that you're actually asking Buffy out." 
> 
> "WHAT?" 
> 
> "Why not?" 
> 
> "It's insane, Jonah, even for me. How did you even come up with that idea?" 
> 
> Jonah shrugged. 
> 
> "Walker did it." 
> 
> "And how well did that end, exactly?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for Liza, this is her great idea and I hope Liza enjoys this as well as everyone else reading this! Attempted humour and general fluff.

"Hello? Please pick up, please pick up, please-yes!" 

"Marty?" A groggy voice answered and a face emerged. 

Wow, TJ's hair was really fluffy when he wasn't awake, Marty observed in amusement but chose not to mention this. A second later, Jonah's face appeared too. Merging video calls was a great idea, or at least so Marty had initially believed. 

"Marty, man, it's four in the morning. What do you want?" Jonah asked, rubbing his eyes. 

TJ yawned and set his face into a scowl.

"Yeah, Marty, what's so urgent that you just had to video call both me and Jonah at four in the morning?" 

"It's about Buffy." 

Both TJ and Jonah groaned simultaneously. They'd been through this with Marty about one hundred times before, and already knew that he needed a creative way to ask Buffy about, because apparently "Buffy Driscoll, will you go out with me?" simply wasn't sufficient for him. 

Marty put his hands up in mock surrender. 

"Just hear me out, guys. I want to ask Buffy out this afternoon when we're hanging out at the skate park to roller skate with Andi and Amber, as well as you two, Walker and Cyrus, but I don't know how. It's so frustrating when you want to make the first move but have no idea how." 

"You know what's also frustrating?" 

"What, TJ?" 

"Being woken up at four in the goddamn morning, that's what!" TJ whisper yelled. 

Jonah nodded in agreement. 

"I'm losing beauty sleep over this." 

Marty rolled his eyes.

"Believe me, Jonah, you don't need beauty sleep. You've gone out with four girls and you're currently dating Walker Brodsky. And you've only just turned fifteen. I'm sure they all think you're a beauty." 

"Six girls, actually." Jonah corrected under his breath. 

"Whatever. Not the point. The point is, Buffy Driscoll is an amazing, caring, competitive, hot, patient and talented human being and I desperately want to go out with her. So, how do I go about it?" 

TJ shrugged. 

"I dunno, man. I've only been in one relationship so far and that's the one I'm currently in. Not to mention, I'm not even into girls." 

"Typical Kippen, letting me down." 

"I'm not-" 

"Relax." Marty reassured TJ, who had ran a hand through his hair in his state of stress and made it look even fluffier than it already had done. Marty took a discreet screenshot to send to Cyrus later on. "I was joking." 

Marty looked at Jonah's screen.

"What about you, Jonah 'I've been out with six girls' Beck? What do you have to say about all of this, huh?"

"I dunno. Every girl is different. I know Buffy quite well, and obviously she's athletic and competitive. I mean, she's hard to impress, really."

Marty chuckled. 

"You can say that again." 

"She's h-" 

Marty rolled his eyes. 

"Not literally, Jonah." 

"Oh." 

"I was just agreeing with you. Do you have any ideas how to impress her?" 

Jonah contemplated this in silence. 

"What about you, TJ?" Marty asked TJ, who had nearly nodded off in the meantime. 

"Something she likes, something you both have in common, or something that's personal to your relationship." 

Marty considered this briefly. That was actually legitimate advice.

"How about all three?" 

"Even better." 

Something to do with running, perhaps...but what, exactly? Marty shook his head, frustrated, and Jonah spoke after what felt like an eternity.

"Pretend to create a secret society bordering on ritualistic cult and then reveal that you're actually asking Buffy out." 

"WHAT?" 

"Why not?" 

"It's insane, Jonah, even for me. How did you even come up with that idea?" 

Jonah shrugged. 

"Walker did it." 

Walker. The guy Buffy had dated a few months back. They were friends now, what with him dating Jonah now and everything, but it didn't prevent the flare of jealousy which clouded Marty's vision from sparking up. Still, at least he no longer had any competition. 

The only obstacle to overcome in Marty and Buffy's potential romantic relationship was Marty himself, now.

"And how well did that end, exactly?" 

Jonah gulped and TJ answered for him. 

"Not very. Well, not at all to be more exact." 

"How did you know that? You weren't even in on it!" Jonah exclaimed in surprise.

"Cyrus told me." 

Jonah and Marty both chuckled at the same time.

"Of course he did." Jonah responded in a sardonic tone uncharacteristic for him.

"What?" 

"You're smitten, Kippen." Marty pointed out. 

TJ blushed. He'd been dating Cyrus for the past three months now. Who could blame him? Cyrus was the best thing in his life; patient, attentive, caring. Always there for him. Intelligent, hilarious and beautiful, inside and out. 

"Whatever."

"Anyway," Marty continued, "not only has it somehow been done before, it's also a genuinely terrible idea." 

"Hey, you asked for my help, dude." 

"Yeah, I did, Jonah. But I didn't expect you to come out with an answer like that!" 

Jonah sighed. 

"Why don't you go up to the top of the tallest building you can find, get a banner and a speakerphone, get someone to live stream it and declare your love for Buffy as loudly as possible and tell the world how you feel about her?" TJ suggested. "By tall building, I mean preferably the Eiffel tower, or possibly the Blackpool tower because England is closer to us geographically than France is and the flight there is probably cheaper, too." 

Marty stared at TJ incredulously. 

"Are you serious?" 

TJ rolled his eyes.

"Duh." 

"That's so ridiculous and I'd be going waaay out of my way for that one, so that's a definite no-go." Marty decided. 

TJ huffed and sighed. 

"Fine. Disregard my ideas, but I'll have you know they're very creative." 

"And also very unrealistic." Jonah interjected, surprising both TJ and Marty. 

"If Jonah Beck says it's unrealistic, that usually speaks volumes about your supposed idea." Marty told TJ. 

"Hey!" Jonah complained. 

"Don't take it personally, Jonah." 

"Too late, now." 

"Don't be such a baby." 

"Wow. You wake me up at four in the morning for this? Really?" Jonah complained. 

"Guys, stop arguing. It doesn't solve anything." TJ reminded them. "I should know. I've tried it for that long...it honestly gets you nowhere." 

"Fine." Marty and Jonah relented. 

"Any more ideas?" Marty queried.

"A surprise glitter party?" 

"Not the best idea, Jonah, considering she hates glitter." 

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me, Marty." 

"It would only get in her hair, anyway, and be difficult to wash out." TJ contributed.

"Exactly. Any ideas of your own, TJ?"

"Uh, I don't know. This is more difficult than I first thought." 

Marty groaned. 

"Ditto."

"Girls are so difficult to figure out!" 

"Jonah, you've gone out with six, for God's sake!" 

TJ fake gasped.

"Blasphemy!" 

Both boys just looked at him in confusion. 

"Sorry, I come from a Christian household and it's what my Grandmother would say, and I was trying to be sarcastic, but I guess it didn't work because I'm so tired due to a certain SOMEBODY waking me up during the middle of night." 

"It's not the-never mind. I digress. Perhaps, in hindsight, I shouldn't have woken you two up so early and expected you to be functioning well enough to come up with plausible ideas to ask Buffy out." 

"Agreed." 

"Ditto." 

"What were you on about, Marty?" Jonah checked. "I forgot." 

"I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted-" Marty paused to glare at TJ, who just bit his lip and diverted his attention by playing with a loose strand of hair, "you've gone out with six girls. Surely you of all people know what they like, Jonah Beck?" 

"Not really. They're a bit of a mystery." 

"Ha. Het problems, much?" TJ laughed, before realising that Jonah was bisexual. "Well, for people who are at least a bit straight, anyway." 

"I'm more straight than gay, but I appreciate the effort, TJ." 

"How did you ask those girls out, anyway?" 

"Just the conventional way, Marty, for the three that I asked out. You know, the way which isn't good enough for you." 

Marty turned pink, visibly flustered under his bathroom lights.

"She's different! Special!' A clearly flustered Marty defended, earning him two 'awws' form TJ and Jonah. 

"Shut up!" Marty muttered, evidently embarrassed now by his own choice of words. "How did you ask Walker out?" 

"He asked me out." 

"Wow. Just great. What about you, TJ? How did you ask Cyrus out?" 

"On a bench, at the Mack's party." 

"Oh yeah, I remember that now. So, you just confessed your feelings for him, then, I take it?" 

TJ shrugged. 

"Yeah. I guess I did." 

"You must have done something right." Jonah quipped with a smirk. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Cyrus doesn't stop talking about you whenever we hang out. It's a little irritating, sometimes, but adorable." 

"Oh." 

They fell silent, briefly, when TJ thought of another crazy idea.

"Set up your own circus. Jonah and I will be clowns. Cyrus can be the ringmaster-" 

"Why Cyrus?" Jonah cut in.

"Because he looks great in a suit." 

"Well, obviously he does in your opinion." 

TJ elected to ignore that snide little comment and continued his abnormal tirade.

"Like I said, Cyrus will be a ringmaster, we'll be clowns, Amber can be a tightrope walker, Walker can be one of those people who rides a unicycle, Andi can walk on stilts, Andi and Amber can also ride horses, and you can be a trapeze artist who has to do loads of tricks, and then you'll pick up Buffy and involve her in the act with fire underneath you, and if we get a permit, we can manipulate the pyrotechnics to say: 'Buffy Driscoll, you mean the world to me. Will you go out with me?" 

Marty gaped, open mouthed, while Jonah's shoulders shook. TJ bit his nails nervously now that his proposal was over. 

"What do you think?" 

"What do I think? You're mad, TJ!" 

"A mad genius?" 

"No. Just plain mad." Marty shook his head in despair. "I don't know what goes through your mind, sometimes, TJ Kippen." 

Jonah sniggered. 

"If you think this is so funny, come up with something better yourself, Jonah." Marty snapped, irritated at their lack of success. 

"Why don't you hire a group of synchronised swimmers to spell out 'will you go out with me, Buffy?' and you can dive in the middle of them, off the highest platform possible to show your dedication and commitment to Buffy in an athletic way." 

Marty face palmed as the two other boys giggled childishly in the background. 

"No, no, no. That's awful. Not as bad as TJ's ideas, granted, but fairly abysmal all the same." 

"Oi! Some of us do have feelings, you know?" 

"Screw your feelings. This is important to me. I need to get this right." 

"Isn't my idea interesting, at least?" 

"No, TJ. It is not. This is a complete disaster." 

Marty's screen began to pixellate. His connection was clearly fading, and fast. At that particular moment, Marty saw an adult in the background of Jonah's screen. Jonah gasped and ended the call rapidly, his screen turning dark. 

"Look, TJ. I never meant to offend you." Marty explained. "I just need you to take this seriously, okay?" 

"I'm trying my best." 

"I know, and you're very imaginative. I just need something simple but special. Is that too much to ask?" 

"Probably." 

"Wow." Marty responded, sarcastically.

TJ shrugged, blinking hard in an attempt to stay awake. Marty felt guilty for waking him and Jonah up at this ungodly hour, suddenly. 

"Just being honest." 

Marty nodded, trying to keep patient. 

"Sorry for getting irritated. Look, I'm losing my connection, but can you make it to the Spoon for ten in the morning later, before we go to the skate park at one?" 

"Sure." 

"Thanks, man." 

"See you later, Marty. Any time." 

Marty didn't deserve TJ. 

"Bye, TJ. And remember, if you want to talk, I'm here." 

TJ smiled. 

"I know." 

With that being said, the two boys waved each other goodbye and Marty hung up. 

A few seconds later, Marty received an apologetic text message from Jonah, explaining that his parents heard noise and wondered what was going on, but we're pretty relaxed about it all the same. Marty told him it was fine, and apologised for snapping earlier. Jonah accepted his apology and Marty asked him to go to the Spoon, but Jonah wad allegedly busy until twelve and couldn't. Marty swore under his breath. Someone needed to be there to ground TJ, no offense to the guy. He was just too...sporadic. That was all.

Marty texted him to tell him it was no problem, before messaging TJ to inform him that Jonah wasn't coming to the Spoon. TJ told Marty he was considering bringing Cyrus along anyway, so Cyrus could come. Marty considered this. Cyrus was quite sensible; he grounded TJ, and besides, he was Buffy's best friend. Sure, he replied. Why not. Go for it. 

He drifted off to sleep hoping he hadn't made a big mistake in inviting them over, desperate for a good plan to ask Buffy out. It's what she deserved, after all. He thought of Buffy, the chemistry he had with her. How she always made his day better with a sardonic off hand remark or a smile. And her laughter...it was almost angelic. He couldn't believe he'd become this cringy, but he honestly didn't care. Buffy was worth it. He really cared about her. 

As he fell asleep, Marty hoped that he'd be able to go out with Buffy, and that everything would work out for the best...

The next morning, when he woke up, Marty realised it was a quarter past nine and his alarm, which was supposed to go off and half eight, had clearly been turned off. 

He ran to the bathroom and took a rushed five minute shower, before returning back to his room to get changed and spraying himself with cologne, running a comb through his messy hair. He put his watch on and headed downstairs for a glass of orange juice and a piece of toast. This took approximately ten minutes, as he applied the jam thickly and digested it fully. 

Marty checked his watch. It was a quarter to ten. He had to go.

Marty grabbed his keys and left a note entailing where he'd be. Oh, well. If his parents needed him, they'd call him, though he doubted it. His Dad was a nurse and therefore constantly busy and his Mom worked some long hour office job and was rarely home. Marty didn't dare ask. His older brother, Aidan, had moved outlast year to go to university and so far he was loving his English course. He was quite serious and boring, as well as unathletic. Seriously. He was the polar opposite to Marty-in his eyes, at least, if not anybody else's. 

Maybe that's why he took on the role of clown and general bumbling idiot. He'd been called out many times for his immaturity, but he didn't care. Besides, it never stopped him from getting the girl of his dreams, did it? 

Just nerves and fear. Pure, unadulterated fear. Matty didn't want to be rejected, the way he was rejected last time. Admittedly, yes he had acted dramatically-he could have stayed friends with Biffy instead of going cold turkey on her, after all-but he just couldn't. It hurt too much, and besides, something felt different between them. Marty didn't want to make things awkward between them, so he left it. It was one of his biggest regrets. 

But now he was going to turn his wrongs to rights, Marty promised himself, by finally asking Buffy Driscoll out again, with the assistance of his friends. He wondered, heart hammering fast out of his chest, if this time tomorrow he'd be Buffy's boyfriend, and if she was thinking about him at all.

Meanwhile, Buffy was just waking up. She remembered that they were going to the skate park later that day and smiled. She was looking forward to spending the day with all of her friends. She was glad she'd cleared the air with Walker about a month ago, so things wouldn't be awkward between them any more.

All her other friends would be there. It would be awesome. They were all so much fun. They were all bringing sweets, so Andi would get hyper. Amber would do these elaborate things and remind each other she skated on ice, usually, and show off a few tricks, but nobody minded. It was pretty cool, actually. 

Cyrus might struggle, but he'd sure give it a try, especially with TJ by his side, and he'd sure be talkative-Buffy knew that after having been friends with Cyrus for so long. TJ would encourage Cyrus, do some cool tricks and be really hyper and fun to be around. Jonah would definitely be awesome at roller skating and would probably down several energy drinks. Buffy shook her head at the thought. Typical Jonah. Walker would be friendly enough and would probably be really good at it, helping anyone who struggled.

And, of course, Marty would be there. Buffy's smile widened into a grin. Marty was definitely the most fun and hyper of them all. He'd be the best at roller skating, apart from her, of course. Not to mention he was hilarious and attractive...

Buffy had to admit. Over the last few months, she may have developed a little crush on Marty. He was great, always there to listen, just as athletic as she was, silly and serious in equal measure. Usually, she wanted to be the one to ask a guy out, but Buffy was afraid. She was afraid that Marty would reject her like she rejected him nearly a year ago. And that would hurt too much. 

So, she just opted to stay his friend for the time being, hoping for more but trying to remain realistic at the same time.

Maybe he'd ask her out, one day. She really hoped so. The only question was when-and how.

Marty seated himself in The Spoon, glancing at his watch nervously. TJ had promised to be punctual.

Fifteen minutes passed until the bell in The Spoon went off and the door swung open. Marty glanced up hopefully and saw TJ walking over to him with a gigglr, a blushing Cyrus (who he was currently holding hands with) in tow. 

"Hey." TJ greeted Marty breathlessly as he took a seat. 

"What time do you call this?" Marty asked, irritation written all over his face and seeping into his voice. 

TJ had the good grace to look apolgetic.

"Sorry," TJ began sheepishly, "I woke up twenty minutes late and-" 

Cyrus cut him off, however. 

"Its my fault." Cyrus admitted guiltily. "I was five minutes late leaving the house and I kept slowing down to tell TJ things and catch up with him." 

TJ shook his head vigorously, clearly refusing to let his supposedly perfect boyfriend take the blame.

"Nah, that's on me. We may have kissed one or two times..." 

Cyrus let out a little giggle and TJ turned pink. 

Marty rolled his eyes. 

"This is cute and everything, but we're already behind schedule as it is." 

"You run a tight ship." Cyrus observed with an eyebrow raised. 

"For a good reason, might I add. I trust TJ told you why were meeting here?" 

"Yep." 

"You're Buffy's best friend. You know her best out of all of us. What do we do, Cyrus?" 

Cyrus sat and contemplated this in thoughtful silence. Buffy was never impressed easily, and rarely enjoyed surprises. This was going to be difficult.

Cyrus shrugged. 

"You could just ask her out normally." 

"But she's worth the effort." Marty pointed it and TJ sniggered indelicately. Marty shot him an intense death glare. 

"What?" 

"Nothing." TJ replied with a smirk. 

Marty folded his arms in a way which told TJ the guy meant business. 

"What was it that made you laugh, huh?"

"It's just so...cheesy, you know? Talking about Buffy like that." 

Marty laughed. 

"Are you really one to talk about cheesy, TJ Kippen?" 

TJ dropped Cyrus' hand like it was on fire.

Cyrus pointedly didn't look at TJ. 

"You need to stop caring so much about other people's opinions, TJ." 

TJ turned pink and stared at his red converse trainers awkwardly.

"He's right, you know, Kippen." Marty pointed out.

"I know. Sorry." 

"Hey, you can always work on it." Cyrus smiled at TJ brightly, circling TJ's palm with his thumb. TJ grabbed Cyrus' hand again. 

"So, any ideas, Cyrus?" 

"It's got to be better than anything he came up with." Cyrus joked, looking straight at TJ. 

"Hey!" 

TJ nudged Cyrus in mock offense, and Cyrus stuck his tongue out at him playfully. Marty chuckled. 

"Its not my fault a certain person-not naming anyone or anything-cough cough MARTY-cough cough, woke me up at FOUR IN THE MORNING!" 

"For a good reason!" Marty justified, with his hands up in mock defense. 

TJ rolled his eyes. 

"Yeah, right." 

Marty moved over to Tyrus' half of the booth and punched TJ in the shoulder. Cyrus seemed to find this funny, so TJ began tickling his neck. Cyrus giggled and insisted TJ dropped it immediately. 

"You know I'm ticklish!" 

"Hence why I did it, Underdog." 

They ordered their milkshakes. Marty went for his usual chocolate milkshake, and TJ ordered a strawberry milkshake for both himself and Cyrus by adding that they wanted two straws.

They were too cute. Really, they were. Marty's mind flitted briefly to the times Marty and Buffy had hung out at the Spoon together with their friends, Buffy's laughter and the way she was so naturally witty and funny, her little jokes and sarcastic comments, her bubbly nature.The way she'd punched him on the shoulder and looked in to his eyes. 

"You could never beat me in a marathon, dumbass." She'd commented, much to the delight of Andi, Jonah, Cyrus and TJ. 

"In your dreams, Driscoll." 

She'd shook her head at him in a way which had made her curls bounce. Buffy's hair seemed to have a life of its own. Marty fleetingly wondered who Buffy was crushing on. With any hope, it would be... 

"Marty! Marty! MARTY!" Cyrus was snapping his fingers in front of Marty's face. "We were wondering what you thought." 

"Of what?" 

"His idea." TJ responded incredulously at the exact same time Cyrus said "my idea." 

"Jinx!" They both shouted. "Double jinx! Padlock!" 

They linked their pinkies and threw their heads back in laughter. Marty couldn't help but laugh too. One thing TJ and Cyrus had in common was the infectious positivity and comedy they delivered.

"So, what's your idea?" 

Cyrus glanced quickly at TJ and proceeded to plaster a small smile on his face.

"Remember to keep it simple. As her best friend, if there's one thing I've learned about her tastes, nothing too elaborate. And it has to be manageable where you are. So, now declaring your love for her at the Eiffel tower. No crazy glitter party. No weird secret society bordering on cult-she hated that. That and she didn't have feelings for Walker anymore. No synchronized swimmers spelling out a long message. And, of course, no circuses." 

TJ threw his hands up in the air. 

"Come on! That was a stroke of creative genius!" 

"Huh. Because it seems to me it's more like you were having a stroke, period, when you thought of those ideas." 

"Burn!" Marty shouted from across the table, earning him several sharp glares. He lowered his voice and fist bumped Cyrus across the table. Cyrus grinned wickedly and TJ acted betrayed, placing his hand on his chest with a wounded expression just as the milkshakes arrived. 

Cyrus went to put in his straw, but TJ forcibly removed the straw. 

"What was that for?" Cyrus asked, in disbelief.

"Nuh-uh. You don't get any milkshake whatsoever until you take back your mean little comment." 

"You're being petty, TJ." 

"Did TJ just say 'nuh-uh?'" Marty asked bemusedly. 

Cyrus nodded at him. TJ chewed on his lip and moved the strawberry milkshake closer to himself, trying to ignore Cyrus begging for 'just a sip.' TJ shook his head stubbornly and Marty sipped his milkshake and watched in amusement as Cyrus found ways to entice TJ and persuade him to share the milkshake, his eyes darting between them as though he was watching a ping pong match. He ruffled TJ's hair and TJ batted Cyrus' hand away. 

"Hey! Not the hairdo!" TJ was proud when it came to such riveting and significant matters as his hair. "Nobody touches the 'do!" 

Cyrus pouted. 

"What, not even your own boyfriend?" 

"No. Not even you, Underdog. There's a subliminal, subtle line. It's tiny. And you crossed it. You also crossed another line with your witty little remark about me allegedly having a stroke." 

"You've got to admit, it was funny, though." 

Marty visibly noticed TJ almost caving in.

TJ rolled his eyes. 

"Whatever. Not the point." 

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned forward to take another sip. Cyrus grabbed his wrist and pleaded with him, using his best weapon: his puppy eyes. Marty sucked in his breath; this was bound to work. It was a well known fact that Cyrus could easily get his way with TJ just by bringing out his infamous puppy eyes.

"Please?" 

TJ just looked at Cyrus for a moment, the resistance formerly guarding his face let down, softening it completely as he lost another argument to Cyrus and his intense puppy eyes. He threw his arms up in the air wildly for the second time that day, looking like a madman.

"Fine. I did order it for the two of us. But are you sorry for what you said about me?" 

Cyrus attempted to conceal a smirk and failed. 

"Cyrus!" TJ reprimanded. 

Cyrus sighed reluctantly. 

"Fine, fine. I'm sorry that I upset you by dissing your ideas and claiming that you must have had a stroke when creating them." 

TJ grinned and gave Cyrus a look only reserved for him, before they started drinking their milkshake together. 

Marty averted his eyes to the floor, admittedly feeling left out by Cyrus and TJ's public display of affection, but they had more chemistry that any couple he'd seen, even the fictonal ones in romcoms, Marty mused. They were great together, if slightly over the top. He thought back to the time he spent with Andi and Buffy at The Spoon and ordered Buffy her extra napkins. He marvelled at how she could make literally any time they hung out so fun. But last time, shed rejected him. Marty hoped she was running from her feelings, but they were difficult to resist. He couldn't be so certain, though-surely if she'd truly had feelings for him, she would have accepted his offer to be his girlfriend? Still, she wasn't the one who ignored their crush's existence for six months and then decided to spontaneously get a girlfriend soon after the rejection to make this aforementioned crush feel jealous. 

But had it truly worked? Marty could never be sure. Perhaps he'd ask her that today. Maybe not. He was full of nerves. Would Cyrus step up to the plate and deliver him a reasonable and pretty unique, awesome idea or would this all flop? At this point, there was no way of telling. Still, Cyrus was definitely the most sensible and grounded guy Marty knew, at least for the most part, and his thoughts would be more logical than TJ's or Jonah's had been. And he was Buffy's best friend, after all. Hopefully, this session was successful, otherwise Marty wasn't sure if he'd ever pluck up the courage to ask Buffy out-and what if by then, it was too late and she'd moved on to somebody else? 

No, he couldn't afford to think like that. Keep a positive mentality only, Marty reminded himself. It would be so great to take Buffy out somewhere and be able to do the little things; wrap an arm around 'the booth' at the Spoon, conveniently over where Buffy was sat. To place his hand in the popcorn at the cinema at the same time as Buffy, so that their hands were touching. Every touch was electric and magical, so kidding Buffy would be amazing. Marty marvelled over how fortunate he was to have met Buffy and how he didn't deserve her, but today, maybe, just maybe, he could finally prove his worth.

"You okay, there, Marty from the Party?" TJ teased. "You seemed a bit out of it there." 

Marty waved this away, insisting repeatedly that he was fine, just deep in thought. 

"Wow, didn't know you were capable of thinking!" 

Cyrus high fived TJ. 

"TJ, you should have seen his face when you said that!" 

Marty glared at both boys before clearing his throat. 

"Anyway. We're literally here for a reason, and contrary to what you two fools might believe, it isn't for clowning around." 

"But Marty, I'm tired!" TJ complained petulantly. 

"And?" 

TJ groaned and put his head on the table. Cyrus whispered something to him and TJ put his head back up, rubbing his eyes. 

"Sorry." 

"That's okay. Now, Cyrus, give us your idea." 

Cyrus looked at TJ, who nodded at him, almost imperceptibly, lifting his thumbs up and smiling to give him the go ahead. Cyrus was clearly anxious around Marty, and for a good reason, too; they barely knew each other, really, having only interacted a handful of times before.

"I was thinking-the roller skating place has a big screen in one section, right?" 

"Right." 

"It's the perfect way to get her attention. Put on a video collage of memories together-most of us have got some on our phones-and some music, any song you wish- and add a little message at the end, before standing in front of the screen with either a microphone or megaphone-preferably a microphone, because that's the more sensible option, realistically. You tell her how amazing she is and how much you want to go out with her, and TJ and I, possibly Jonah, too, if you clue him in with the plan-we'll set off party poppers and leave you two lovebirds to it." 

Marty stroked his chin thoughtfully. The idea was a good one, but he just had one question about it. 

"What do I do leading up to it?" 

Cyrus looked at TJ and TJ spoke. 

"Jonah, Cyrus and I will scatter bits of paper with a cose. Numbers 1 to 26 will serve as letters-for examlme, 1 is a, 2 is b, etcetera-so we'll initially drop a piece of paper detailing this code for Buffy to piece together. She is very intelligent, so she'll pick it up pretty quickly. When she gathers all of them, it should say 'look at the screen.' In the meantime, whilst we are doing this, you'll subtly flirt-and mean SUBTLY, to ensure you don't accidentally reveal our plan-with Buffy to distract her." 

"So try to compete with her." Cyrus added, continuing what TJ was saying. "If she gets bored of you, simply flirt with a random girl-compliment her while walking to the toilets. Without you there, I'll try to gage whether or not she's jealous and will respond to you accordingly. Once the code is finished and she looks at the screen, you'll ask her out." 

"Huh. I like the plan. Seriously. It's awesome." Marty squeezed his eyes shut and revealed a fear of his. "But what if all else fails and she still rejects me, the way she did last time? It would hurt me so much, to have so much effort put in and to get my heart broken for the second time, knowing I could have done better in my efforts, should have done better-or that maybe-" 

Marty cut himself off and winced. He lowered his voice, and it softened, turning emotional and making Marty exposed, vulnerable.

"That maybe she never even had feelings for me at all." 

TJ reached over the table and squeezed Marty's hand to comfort him. 

"Believe me, she does. Have you heard the way she laughs around you, the way you crack her up?" 

"Or the looks she gives you when she thinks nobody is looking." 

"Or the smile she gives you." 

"Or how she always talks about you." Cyrus chucked. "She talks about you a lot. It's an issue." 

"I'm sure discussing me is never an issue." Marty remarked jokingly, his formerly confident persona returning to him. 

TJ and Cyrus laughed at this. Cyrus leaned forward, his head on his elbows, and asked Marty what he thought.

Marty sipped his chocolate milshake as he considered he question.

"In all honesty, I think we should go for it. And I also think I'm looking to have friends like you." 

"Imagine if I hadn't brought Cyrus with us." 

Marty shuddered. 

"It would have been a disaster." 

TJ pretended to be offended for all of five seconds before giving in and agreeing with Marty. Marty thanked Cyrus for his ideas and his presence. 

Cyrus shrugged casually. 

"No problem. You're lucky to have a friend like TJ." 

TJ smirked. Cyrus was clearly boosting his ego. He looked at Marty.

"You ain't never had a friend like me." 

Cyrus started singing along, doing the Will Smith version-they'd seen the new Aladdin at the cinema last weekend. Marty was surprised that TJ could beatbox. However, their singing almost got them kicked out. Ad they walked out, Marty smiled broadly. Preparations were to be made, and if this went right, it would all be thanks to TJ and Cyrus. 

"Operation Muffy is a-go." 

"Cyrus! We're not called that!" 

Marty blushed, embarrassed. 

"Yes, you are." TJ interjected and Marty just shook his head and out his arm around the two of them, testing Jonah about the plan, eternally grateful for his friends as they walked to the shop to buy party poppers. No matter what happened today, at least he had them by his side. And that's ultimately what mattered the most.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Andi...I have a feeling something significant is going to happen today, something really big and important." 

"You do?" Andi asked, surprised, as she rummaged through her wardrobe for something for Buffy to wear.

"Yeah...it's really weird. I don't know what, it's just this odd kind of cryptic feeling." 

"Like.... a premonition?" 

Buffy frowned thoughtfully. 

"A bit like that, yes." 

She thought it through. Buffy knew that she probably shouldn't get her hopes up, but she believed that it could possibly be related to Marty. Had she gone insane? Perhaps. Everything just so happened to lead back to Marty. Since when had she become so soppy? Buffy shook her head to dispel any unrealistic daydreams about Marty asking her out. She rejected him last time, after all. Why would he risk rejection again? Did he even have feelings for her? Sure, he no longer had a girlfriend-but that didn't mean anything, did it? 

Did it? 

Buffy's musings were swiftly interrupting by Andi waving a hand in front of her face frantically to gain her attention. 

"Hello! Earth to Buffy." 

"Huh?" 

"I said, which top do you like best? The red one, or the purple one?" 

Buffy considered this briefly. Which one would suit her better? 

Which one would Marty prefer to see her in? 

Buffy shook her head. She should never make things like fashion decisions about the boy she liked. Frankly, it was incredibly stupid.

"I'll go with the red one." 

"Good choice." 

"Andi?" 

"Yes, Buffy?" Andi responded absent mindedly as she took her red top out for Buffy to wear.

"What do you think brought this on?" 

There was a brief silence as Andi stood there, a red top still on its hanger and in her hand, contemplating what Buffy had asked her. After what felt like an interminable and unbearable pause, Andi shrugged. 

"As Bowie says, it could be the universe." 

Buffy rolled her eyes. 

"The universe? Come on. Really? That was the best you could come up with, Andi Mack?" 

Andi stuck her tongue out at Buffy petulantly. "Better than anything you could come up with." 

"Hey!" 

Buffy threw a purple cushion at Andi playfully, both girls laughing, and suddenly Buffy's mind was no longer on Marty or the events of the day any more. 

Little did she know, her premonition was only a few hours away from becoming true....

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"I just need a few more videos, or a short video for it to fit with the song. Do you think you have anything, Cyrus?" 

"Of course I do. I'll just find it." 

"Thanks, Cy." 

"No problem, Marty from the Party." 

It was an hour and a half until they were supposed to meet the others at the skate park, and they were just compiling the last of the video and photo and video footage of Marty and Buffy together.

TJ finished writing the code, his tongue stuck out in concentration. Cyrus kissed him on the cheek. 

"I have such an adorable boyfriend!" Cyrus exclaimed proudly. 

TJ blushed. 

"Glad you like my little quirks, Underdog." 

"Like them? I love them!" 

TJ giggled. 

Marty rolled his eyes and started clapping his hands in front of TJ's face to spur him into action.

"Come on, chop chop, TJ! Are you going to Jonah about the plan?" 

"On it!" 

"Good." 

Marty turned to Cyrus and they sat scrolling through his gallery, with TJ peering over their shoulders in curiosity as they did so. Less than three seconds in, he stopped them appropriately. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up. Is thata photo of me from the early hours of this morning?" 

TJ looked to Cyrus. 

"Where did you get this?" 

Cyrus shrugged, refusing to meet TJ's eyes, and bit his lip nervously. He was a notoriously terrible liar. He looked at Marty without fully intending to, and this seemed to supply TJ with his answer. 

"Marty!" 

"What?" 

"Why did you send him a screenshot of me at four in the morning on Skype?" 

Marty tried to hold back a chuckle and failed. 

"Because it was funny." 

"It won't be funny in a minute." 

"Alright, calm down there, Kippen." 

They all started laughing at that point. It felt surprisingly good, Marty realised, to have these two by his side; even if they did act like cheesy, lovesick dorks around each other. 

"Let's move on." 

"Agreed." TJ added.

Cyrus pouted at him, pretending to be upset. TJ shook his head at his boyfriend's childish antics, and focused his attention on texting Jonah. They could trust Jonah Beck to keep a secret, after all. 

Couldn't they? 

In the meantime, Marty and Cyrus were reviewing numerous photos together. 

"I remember that! It was at the Mack party, right?" 

"Yeah, and we all did that photo booth." 

"I still can't believe you wore a rainbow wig, Cyrus." 

"And I still can't believe TJ asked me out that night." 

Cyrus glanced over at TJ, who had looked up from his phone at the mention of his name.

"Why does every little thing have to lead back to this dumbass?" Marty questioned with a groan. 

Cyrus smiled at him sheepishly. 

"Sorry. Yeah, I love rainbow wigs. They make me feel more confident, like when I'm wearing anything colourful or flamboyant (which is rarely because I know virtually nothing about fashion whatsoever)."

They all joked about for a minute or so about Cyrus' lack of fashion sense, until a video of Marty and Buffy with Andi, Jonah and Cyrus came on. 

"I'll beat you at any game. At any time." Buffy challenged Marty in the video.

They were having a staring contest, and at the time there was no clear winner.

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah." 

"I could do this forever." 

"I hope we do." 

Marty felt emotional, watching that back. The connection and chemistry between him and Buffy was something he felt was truly special.

"Marty, are you tearing up?" 

Marty wiped a hand across his face rapidly. 

"No. I'm just having an allergic reaction to life."

They all chuckled and shook their heads. They added the photos and videos to the video montage they'd set up to screen later that afternoon. Marty smiled at TJ and Cyrus, after thanking them for helping them. 

"This better pay off." TJ groaned. "We've put a lot of effort in to this, you know." 

"You're not the one who did all the editing and technical stuff, TJ Kippen!" Cyrus reminded TJ with his tongue stuck out. 

TJ shrugged, laughing. 

"That's true." 

"Dumbasses." Marty remarked. 

"Hypocrite." TJ and Cyrus came back with at the same time, looking at each other and bursting out laughing. All three boys grinned at each other, before watching the video. Marty teared up and Cyrus came close, so TJ was branded an emotionless and heartless monster as a consequence of this. Marty put an arm around both of their shoulders as they made their way towards the skate park.

"Let's do this thing!"

This was going to be great.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, guys! How are you doing today?" Marty greeted everyone, too brightly, a fake smile plastered on his face in an effort to conceal his nerves. 

What if it went wrong? What if there were technical issues? What if somebody figured out the plan?

What if Buffy rejected him? 

However, Marty pushed these intrusive thoughts aside and attempted to focus on having a good time without looking too suspicious. 

"Hey." Andi responded. "How are you doing, Marty?" 

What Marty didn't notice was Andi's subtle glances between him and Buffy. 

"Uh, fine. Just swell, thanks." 

Swell? Seriously? Was that really the best thing he could possibly come up with?

Andi looked at him as though he was crazy. To be fair, though, he probably was. 

"Okay. Have you met Amber?" 

"Amber?" 

"My girlfriend?" 

Marty looked at the girl. Her blonde hair cascaded around her face like a waterfall and her emerald eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm and love. She was pretty, sure, very much so, but no Buffy. And lesbian. 

"Hey." 

Marty did a little wave, conscious of how much he was sweating and how worked up he'd got today.

"Hey, you're Buffy's-" 

Buffy kicked her in the shin. Amber shot her a look before smiling back at Marty.

"Buffy's friend, right?" 

Marty found himself nodding, though confused as to why Buffy had kicked Amber. It wasn't important, though. He shouldn't waste his time thinking about it when he had a plan to go through with. 

"Yep. That's me. Buffy's friend." 

Buffy smiled at him. 

"Watch me beat your ass at this." 

"It's on, Driscoll." 

Buffy smirked and Marty bit his lip. She was still looking at him. Was that good? Was that bad? Who knew? His heart wad thumbing wildly, but he distracted himself by getting sorted out. 

Jonah walked in before any further flirtatious comments could be exchanged, however, his hand in Walker's.

"Hey, guys. How are we today?" 

"Just great." Marty beamed his thumbs up. 

Jonah grinned, fully aware of why Marty was acting so weird. 

"Docious Magocious!" 

Walker gave Jonah a funny look, before bursting into laughter, and pretty soon, the others were following suit. 

"What?" Jonah asked, obviously. 

"How long has it been since you last said 'docious magocious'?" Andi pointed out. 

"Is that seriously a thing he did?" 

"Yes, Walker. Your boyfriend here would say it constantly." Amber added.

Buffy nodded. 

"I used to take the mick out of it. I miss being able to do that, to be able to laugh at him." 

"You still can, he's clearly still a dumbass." A voice from behind them uttered. 

"Wow, well done, you two finally made it back from the bathroom." 

Cyrus looked embarrassed. 

"I was sorting out my locker combination. I needed TJ to help me." 

Everyone laughed again, good naturedly, as Cyrus turned fucshia in humiliation. 

Five minutes and a safety video later, the bunch made it onto the roller skating park. 

"Jonah, you won't say anything, will you?" Marty hissed into Jonah's ear. "We trust you, you know." 

Jonah nodded. 

"Yes, because Jonah Beck is totally the best person to keep a secret." Cyrus commented sarcastically. 

Marty jumped, his muscles taut with nerves. 

"Cyrus! You made me jump! I didn't see you there! Don't scare me like that in the future!" 

Cyrus chuckled. 

"I just thought I'd wait for you guys." 

Jonah beamed at Cyrus.

"Thanks, Cy-guy." 

Marty raised his eyebrows at the questionable choice of nickname, but didn't push it for once. 

"Yeah, cheers, Cyrus." 

He regarded Jonah warily after Cyrus' comment.

"What does he mean? We can't have you telling anyone about this. It's supposed to be a surprise, Jonah. I trusted you with this. Was I right in doing so?" 

"Of course," Jonah reassured him. "You're secret safe with me." 

Cyrus pulled a face. 

"I don't know about that." Cyrus muttered, but nobody heard him.

Be shuffled behind them, reluctant to get going giving his lack of hand to eye coordination and obvious lack of athletic ability. 

"What if he crumbled under the pressure of interrogation?" Cyrus found himself asking as Jonah slipped away on to the roller skating rink. 

Marty rolled his eyes. 

"Quit being so dramatic, Cyrus. Chill out. We'll burn that bridge when we get to it." 

There was a pause. Marty scowled, visibly confused. 

"What? Is that not the saying?" 

Cyrus shook his head.

"No. No, it isn't Marty. The saying is 'we'll cross that bridge when we get to it', but clearly, bridges are going to be burned anyway." 

Marty ignored Cyrus as they entered the rink, only to find their eyes feasting upon the glorious sight of Andi tripping and slipping everywhere, being supported on one arm by Amber, and on the other by Buffy. As cringy as his was, it made Marty's heart practically melt when he saw Buffy being so kind, helpful and supportive towards her friend. Cyrus must have seen this in Marty's eyes as he smirked and rushed to support Andi. 

"Go Andi! Whoo!" 

A very stern looking supervisor glowered at Cyrus. 

"Sorry." Cyrus corrected himself, lowering his voice. "I meant, go Andi! Whoo!" 

Andi giggled. 

"She'll get there eventually." Amber reasoned. 

Buffy nodded. 

"Not that she'll ever be as good as me, obviously." 

"Hey!" 

"Just speaking the truth." 

At this point, Marty had joined them. 

"Isn't it true, Marty?" 

"Isn't what true, Buffy?" 

"That she'll never be as brilliant as I am at roller skating." 

Andi looked at Marty with her best puppy eyes, and a pout that could make anybody cave in to her wishes. Still, Marty wasn't buying it. He wasn't just anyone, after all. He was Marty, the dumbass. Marty, the clown. Marty, the guy who had feelings for Buffy so would automatically agree with her.

"Sorry, Andi, but I'll have to side with Buffy on this one." 

"No fair!" Andi grumbled petulantly. 

Amber kissed her girlfriend on the cheek. 

"You still have plenty of time to learn and catch up, babe. You just don't have a natural flair for it, that's all." 

Marty chuckled and moved away from the group. 

"Are you ready?" Cyrus asked TJ. 

TJ nodded.

"On it." 

Cyrus gave him a thumbs up.

"Operation Muffy is ready." 

"Let's do this thing!" 

It was hilarious to witness TJ and Cyrus attempting to act like spies. They were just so silly, it was actually unbelievable. How old were they, again?

Seriously, though. They needed to be more subtle. They were just dropping pieces of paper in really obvious ways. Marty felt he should call them out for it, but was it really necessary? 

Marty decided to leave it, and to just focus on having a good time with his friends. What could possibly go wrong?

"Jonah, do you know something, love?" 

Jonah could feel sweet oozing from his pores and shuddered. When he spoke, his voice was shaky and high pitched. Jonah Beck was a notoriously abysmal liar, after all.

"No, of course not. Why would you possibly say that?"

"Jonah..." Walker responded sternly, his hands on his hips with an eyebrows raised. 

"What?" Jonah asked nervously, his voice rising as high as possible; he was practically squeaking.

"You know something." 

"About what?" 

"About the strange way TJ and Cyrus are behaving." 

Jonah scratched the back of his neck, which was gradually becoming redder and redder by the second. 

"I don't know what you mean."

Walker gestured to TJ and Cyrus. 

"You know what I mean. Just look at them."

TJ was roller skating with his hand in Cyrus', but Cyrus kept stumbling over, which would subsequently lead to a laughing TJ helping to pick Cyrus back up again. Cyrus would be laughing, too, and would continue trying to roller skate but struggle. 

Sure, Cyrus was clumsy. But never that clumsy. It had to be deliberate. So, what were they doing? 

Walker squinted slightly at the floor. Jonah noticed this and attempted to distract him.

"Hey, Walker! It's Chris Hemsworth!" 

"That isn't going to work this time round." 

"I can't believe you fell for it that time!" 

Walker turned himself towards Jonah, beginning to become immersed in their little argument. Good. Baiting Walker into an argument was undoubtedly a foolproof way to distract him. 

"For the last time, Jonah, I did not! I just happened to look up at the mention of his name." 

Jonah sniggered. 

"Sure." 

"There's nothing wrong with a celebrity crush!" 

"I know that. I never said there was." 

"Then why are you laughing?" 

"Because it's funny seeing you get so defensive and riled up over this." 

Walker shook his head at Jonah's immaturity. 

"Whatever."

He turned his attention back to what was on the floor. They looked to be...little bits of white paper? What were they doing here? Why was Jonah in denial about this? Clearly, they were up to no good...but what exactly did they think they were doing? 

Walker moved forward to stop them, but a wise eyed Jonah grabbed his arm to prevent him from doing so. 

"Hey, um, I'm really thirsty. Can we go the water fountain, please?" 

Walker raised his eyebrows again.

"Thirsty? Really? Is that the best excuse you could come up with?" 

"No, honestly, Walker, I've not had a lot to drink." 

"Seriously? I'm not buying it." 

"But-" 

Walker interrupted Jonah before he could defend his argument, however. 

"Look, Jonah. I don't know what they're doing, but it looks suspicious and you know something, no matter how hard you're trying to hide it right now. As a curious person, I just want to know what's going on." 

Jonah sighed heavily. Why was keeping secrets so difficult all the time?

"I'm not supposed to say anything." 

Walker frowned.

"About what?" 

"About the plan." 

"What plan?" 

"It's nothing important." 

"If you're keeping it from me, it must be." 

Jonah felt his cheeks burn up. He was trusted to be a secret keeper, yet was so close to giving it all away. This all felt so dramatic, like being in some sort of spy movie or something. It was kind of cool, actually. But how did people do it? Stay all secretive? 

Jonah sighed again. This wasn't in his nature. He wasn't a secretive person, but he persisted with the knowledge that he couldn't open his mouth. He glanced back over Cyrus and TJ; they weren't exactly being discreet, either, but at least they were having fun with it. He wondered how they were finding it. Hopefully, less stressful than he was. 

"Teej?" 

"Yes, Underdog?" 

Cyrus bit his lip. He loved it when TJ called him that. 

"I've got a bruise on my hand." 

"Let's see." 

Cyrus paves his hand outwards for TJ to observe. TJ took it and had a look. 

"Ooh, it looks a little rough. Let me just kiss it better." 

TJ did so and Cyrus grinned at him, before frowning to himself slightly.

"What?" 

"It's just...Jonah Beck Is awful with secrets. Why did we trust him?" 

TJ shrugged. 

"I don't know. It wasn't my decision, after all. But as long as he doesn't reveal the plan, we'llbe fine." 

"Yeah, of course." Cyrus agreed amicably. "Besides, if we're feeling nervous, how is Marty feeling?" 

Marty laughed. He'd just challenged Buffy to a little race. There was no way she'd beat him.

"I'm definitely better at this then you are, Marty from the Party." 

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, 11.5." 

"Let's go!" 

"Now?" 

"No, tomorrow." Buffy quipped sarcastically. "Yes, now, you idiot!" 

Buffy punched Marty in the shoulder and Marty grinned at her, more confident now that perhaps she did like him back. All was going well. The papers had mainly been dropped, albeit with a lack of subtlety to anybody with working eyes. Fortunately, though, nobody had noticed. 

Had they?

Eh. It would be fine, not worth worrying about. He had other things to focus on. 

Like Buffy's laugh, or the way her hair looked, or perhaps the gleam of her eyes....

Nope. He was getting distracted. He had a race to win. 

"Ready, steady...go!"

They were off, and Marty's heart was racing, not just from the race. Buffy had a determined look on her face that Marty found really endearing. 

"Ha! I'm about to beat you!" 

"You wish, Buffet!"

"You really have to stop calling me that." 

"Why?" 

"Its annoying." 

"How?" 

"It just is, okay?" Buffy added breathlessly. "I'm trying to win a race here. Stop distracting me." 

"What, and you don't think they I am too?" 

"We're nearly there." 

Marty caved in. 

"Yeah, you win or whatever. Congratulations, do you want a medal or something?" 

Buffy's eyes roamed over Marty's face for a second, moving from his lips to his eyes. But, because he was a boy from Andi Mack, he was completely oblivious to any signs of anyone having feelings for him ever. She smirked. 

"Or something." 

A kiss, she thought to herself, would be perfect. The moment was interrupted, however, with Andi loudly applauding and cheering for Amber. 

"Amber! You're amazing! Go Amber!" 

Amber smiled sweetly.

"My number one cheerleader." 

Andi looked down and grinned, looking back up whilst biting her lip. She turned to the others.

"Guys, have you seen Amber? She's amazing." Andi turned back to Amber. "Amber, show them what you can do." 

Amber giggled slightly. 

"Sure, bambi. Anything for you." 

Andi simpered and the others awwed; the scene was just too adorable. Amber demonstrated different figures of eight. 

"Its just like dancing, really." Amber was explaining. "Simple." 

"For some, maybe." Cyrus muttered.

TJ smirked and folded his arms. 

"Your dance skills are...interesting to behold, to say the least." 

"I can testify to that." Buffy testified. 

"Ditto." Andi added, approaching them cheerily.

"As can Amber." Cyrus added, explaining about the dancing classes. Ambi soon joined into the conversation, so pretty soon, They were all in fits of laughter by the end of this, much to the confusion of Jonah, Marty and Walker. 

Buffy had just finished laughing and was going to carry in when she spotted something on the floor. It was white. Paper? Why was there paper scattered all over the floor? 

As she picked up each piece of paper, Buffy noticed each one contained a number on it. Why was that, exactly? She was confused and determined to discover the reason behind this.

"It's a code." Cyrus observed from over her shoulder, cyptocallt. Buffy jumped up, startled, a hand placed over her chest and her eyes wide.

"Cyrus! Don't jump up on me like that!" 

Cyrus grinned. 

"Noted." 

That's when it hit Buffy.

"Wait, you know about this?" 

"No comment." Cyrus smirked mischeviously, his eyes glittering. 

"Cyrus!" Buffy whined petulantly. 

"Buffy!" Cyrus whined, mimicking her. 

"This isn't fair!" Buffy pointed out. 

Cyrus shrugged. 

"Life never is, mon amie." 

Buffy sighed heavily. 

"Could you at least tell me how the code links to any sort of message?"

"Fine. Each one of the numbers corresponds to a letter of the alphabet, a=1, b=2 etcetera, for the rest of the alphabet." 

"Yeah. I get it, Cyrus." 

Buffy sat down on the floor in bewilderment and confusion, frowning over the pieces of paper and rearranging it. Marty looked over. Was this his idea? 

"Marty? Are you okay?"

"Of course I am, TJ. Why would you possibly suggest otherwise?"

"Maybe because you're pacing and sweating and either like you've seen a ghost or perhaps are a ghost, given how pale you've turned." 

"Gee, thanks. I really appreciate it, dumbass." 

Marty reached out to playfully ruffle TJ's hair, but RJ was stubborn and refused to let him touch it. 

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"You heard me earlier. Nobody touches the 'do. Duh." 

"Duh." 

"Obviously." 

"Obviously. I mean you did used to spend way too much time with it-all that excessive gel you used, man. Where did it go?" 

TJ grinned sheepishly, his face turning magnolia. 

"Cyrus said I looked cuter with my hair all fluffy, without the gel." 

"Well, if Cyrus said it..." 

"Shut it." 

"You love me for it, really." 

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that, Marty from the Party." 

"I will." 

"I have no doubt about that." 

"Hey, Marty?"

"Yeah?" Marty asked, tearing his eyes away from Buffy reluctantly. 

"I just remembered-how come I never learned your last name?" 

"Guess I'd never got round to telling you..." 

"Yeah. I guess." 

"........" 

"Aren't you going to tell me what it is then?" 

"What? No. Never." 

"Oh. Okay. It's just-" TJ bit his lip. "If you'd told me your last name, I would have told you what TJ stood for." 

This was so embarrassing. 

"Fine. I'll tell you." Marty winced and TJ gestured for him to go on.

"My last name is... Dickinson." 

TJ was in tears. It took him a good two minutes to fully reocwr and be able to breath properly again.

"Seriously? Dickinson? Like di-" 

"I'm going to stop you right there before it gets too out of hand. Yes, like that. And I know that it's old fashioned and boring other than that and doesn't suit me."

"I-just-it's too funny, I can't-" 

"Ugh. Whatever. You'd better keep to your part of the deal, now."

"Sure. TJ stands for...Tippen Jippen Kippen." 

"TJ!" 

"What?" 

"Don't play with me like that." 

"That was hilarious. Admit it. You're laughing. It was funny. I'm funny." 

"Sure. What is it, though, genuinely?" 

"Toilet juice." 

"Hey!" 

"Tomato Jalapeno." 

"Oi!" 

"Tgay Jrights." 

"Stop it!" 

"You're laughing." 

"Not the point. I've been real with you. Be real with me." 

"Tyrannorausus Jex." 

"Seriously? That's the best you can think of?" 

"Nah, it's Tyrus Jyrus." 

"Come on, man."

"Tall Jock." 

"TJ!" Marty reprimanded.

"Total Jerk." 

"Wow. Ignore me, then. That's fine. Don't worry about it." 

"Television Jar." 

"I'm serious!" 

"As am I!" 

"What is it?" 

"Trampoline Jampoline." 

"No. Just no." 

"Toe Jam." 

"Grim." 

"Totally Jheterosexual." 

"Oh. Haha. So funny. Quality banter, right there. 

TJ took a deep breath. 

"Okay. It's ...Tejagon Jejagon." 

"I'm not even replying to that one." 

"Come on! That's a good one." 

"Yeah. I guess." 

TJ raised his eyebrows.

"You guess?"

"It was, then. Happy now?" 

"Very." 

"You're such an idiot, Tippen, you know that, right?" 

"Yeah. You're an idiot, too, though." 

"True. Why else would I ask Buffy out like that, the way I did?" 

"Exactly. How is it going, anyway?" 

"I don't know. Hopefully well. I think we'll just have to wait and see..." 

"What the-" 

Andi rushed over. 

"What is it?" 

"This message says 'look at the screen.' What does it mean?" 

Andi's eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't kn-oh." 

"What?" 

"Buffy, turn around." 

"Why?" 

"Just turn around." 

"Okay..." Buffy responded warily, feeling like a fish out of water. 

"Oh. Marty, did you do this?" 

Marty nodded, nervousness flooding through his veins. 

"Just watch it." 

So, she did.

Buffy was gobsmaxked. All the fun times they'd spent together, on a beautifully crafted video mobtshed, to rewrite the stars in the background. She surprised herself by crying. They'd done so much together, gone through so much. It showed her and Marty at the Mack party in which they'd met; running a marathon together; bowling; another Mack party where they'd taken silly photos together; a day at the beach on the weekend they'd gone camping together with their friends; them hiking up the mountains that very weekend; canoeing; a paintball Ambi and Tyrus double date they'd attended together as third and fourth wheels; them at The Spoon. 

Buffy realised how much she cared about Marty, and how much he got her, despite being an idiotic dumbass at times. 

And clearly, he cared about her deeply, too, having gone to all of this effort, just for her. 

When it had ended, Marty made it up to the front.

"Buffy Driscoll, you mean the world to me. Will you go out with me?" 

"Yes!" Buffy responded excitedly, running towards Marty and wrapping her arms around him tightly. "A thousand times yes, Marty. Always." 

She couldn't believe this was happening. Was this real? Was this a dream? Who knew? Her heart was pounding against her chest as though it was attempting to escape, and not because she'd just completed a marathon, either.

"You said yes? You'll go out with me? You like me?" 

Buffy shook her head in utter disbelief of her boyfriend. Wow...boyfriend. Buffy was finally allowed to call Marty that. 

"You should have just asked me out, you dumbass. I would have said yes." 

"Oh." 

"You can be so oblivious sometimes, Mr Marty from the Party." 

"Marty Dickinson!" TJ called out, much to Marty's embarrassment and Buffy's confusion. 

"Ignore him." 

"Got it. And yeah, I can be." 

"But hey. At least I'm able to do this." 

"Do wh-" 

Marty was cut off abruptly when Buffy leaned over and kissed him.

Marty had never imagined, in any of his wildest dreams, for any kiss to be like this. The sparks, the electricity from the movies, the fireworks-as dramatic as it sounded, it was real. It was all real. It was the best feeling in the world, like he was on a high and never wanted to come down. He didn't know how he'd got so fortunate, but he gladly welcomed it. This was the girl he'd loved for so long, the one he'd always imagined himself to be with since meeting her at the party, the one who mean everything to him. 

Buffy felt amazing. She still found this absolutely unbelievable-incomprehensible, almost. It felt magical, as cheesy as that was, in this particular moment, wrapped up in Marty's arms, his hands in her hair and her hands resting on the top of his back. She neber wanted to be anywhere but here. This boy, who she'd had chemistry with for so long, the one she had been thinking about constantly since the day they met, the one she needed like she needed air to breathe. 

Air. Eventually, they broke away for air to the sounds of thunderous applause, albeit reluctantly, but with no choice but to do so.

"Wow." 

"Yeah. I know. And for the record, Marty, you mean the world to me, too." 

"I don't know what to say. This is all too overwhelming, but in a positive way. You know what I mean?" 

Buffy smiled softly. 

"I do." 

"Want to skate together?" 

"Sure. I'd love to." 

Marty grinned at Buffy, and it felt like they were the only people in the world, despite the presence of their friends. 

Matty mouthed a silent 'thanks' to TJ and Cyrus, to which TJ responded with a thumbs up and Cyrus with a subtle, almost imperceptible nod.

Marty felt like he was the king of the world. He was with the queen to his king-Marty was dating the girl of his dreams. 

And to think, it was all thanks to TJ and Cyrus. 

He could really never ask for better friends like them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave comments and kudos if you liked it! (:


	4. An Apology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you like Andi Mack, or my content in general, please take a second to read this. 
> 
> Hey, guys. So, I just had something to say. 
> 
> Basically-I'm sorry for breaking my promises, I'll try to answer your requests, and I'm opening up requests again.

Hi, everyone.

I know I haven't been writing my prompts. I am so sorry for breaking my promises. Life is hectic, but that's no excuse. I've been working on other things, but, again, that's no excuse. I should be working on the content you guys want, because that's what is important. I'll get my act together if I can. I'm so sorry if I've ever let any of you down. I feel awful about it, but I'll get round to you all if I possibly can. I apologise for not doing so sooner. 

I hope you can all forgive me. 

I know I'm being dramatic, but this has been weighing on my mind for a while and I just needed to get it out there. That's no fault except my own. I know you all like lots of different content from other amazing creators, but if you've requested something and there's a possibility of me being able to deliver that content, I should. 

This applies to my Christmas Prompts, too, btw. 

I'm opening up requests again for those who are interested as I'm excited to see other ideas from you all and would love those interactions again. I understand completely if you might not trust me to deliver that content, but I'm going to start trying when I can. 

Love you all,   
L x


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